Well, my blogs I mostly write about what has helped me out that day or something that has helped to build my faith in Jesus Christ. I hope it will help all of you that read it. I pray it will brighten our day, and help each of you gain greater faith and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Today, I wish to discuss something that I found really cool. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints we claim to have a living prophet on the earth today. A man called by God to do Gods will and help us, Gods children by revealing to us Gods will. Like it talks about in the book of Amos 3:7 " Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets." One of these Latter day prophets back in 1974 said this which is exactly what is happening today.

"Prophecy about the Future of Missionary Work
In 1974, President Spencer W. Kimball issued an amazing prophecy about the technology driving the gospel message.

Technology will help spread the gospel. We need to enlarge our field of operation.… The Lord will lay in our hand inventions which we can scarcely conceive whereby we will be able to bring the gospel to the peoples of the world…. I have faith that the Lord will open doors when we have done everything in our power. I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse….We shall use the inventions the Lord has given us to awaken interest and acquaint people of the world with the truths, to ease their prejudices and give them a general knowledge. We shall need to answer specific questions, and perhaps that can be done by two-way radio and TV perfected to a point beyond our present imagination. It is conceivable that such a program greatly perfected could be multiplied ten thousand times in ten thousand tongues and dialects in ten thousand places far and near…. Tens of thousands of young missionaries endowed with the power from on high will follow up the proselyting.[ii]

“Two-way radio…TV perfected!” What did the Internet and related technologies look like to the prophet’s mind in 1974?"

Wow, that is the 3rd time that I have read it but I love it each time. How would a man in 1974, thats 16 years before I was born, have an idea like this and share it to the church unless he knew that it was true. I know that President Spencer W. Kimball was inspired by God. That this revelation was given to him by God and it is being fulfilled as I type the very words on this page. Now we are able to help people of all walks of life in all of the countries of the world, and we can do it while staying in the walls of our own home, or public library... This is a way to help people all around the world. I know that God still has many more things left to reveal because the world is not done changing. He is the same, and always will be but He can still help us in this changing world.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

My thought today comes from The book of Mormon in the book of Alma chapter 9 verse 28. The reason for this thought, is being leadership on a mission is a lot like being in a leadership responsibilities in jobs or wherever we have been selected to lead. Where sometimes, the last thing on your list is to worry about yourself. We, as missionaries, have to work in our own area, but we also have to look after the other missionaries areas to make sure things are going smooth. So, there are lots of prayers offered for them, the people they teach and for the people we teach and come in contact with. We have been sharing this with the missionaries we have been going on team ups with as part of our "training" to help encourage them to work hard. Here is the scripture:

"Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a reward of their works, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the damnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil."

These are such important things to remember as missionaries and as everyday people, because we may in some way be preparing the way of the Lord by our actions because people are always watching the things that we do and say. We need to go around doing good for many reasons, but just from this scripture and the many other scriptures like it, the reward for doing good is FAR greater than that of for doing evil. Everyone, the time is at hand so lets do all we can to prepare for that great day when the Lord comes again, I know every little thing we do can make a HUGE difference. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Things didn't work out quite the way I had planned, I was trying to get this one up on Valentines Day, but better late than never I guess. This is something I saw at someones house and I liked it so I thought I would copy the idea. Its comes from John 3:16.
For God so loVed the world
That he gAve
His onLy
Be gottEn
SoNThat whosever
BelIeveth
IN should not perish but have everlasting
LifE

That is the greatest Valentines gift ever given. God truly did, and still does love us that much. Its so amazing to think of such a great amount of pure love, God only ask us to love Him and keep His commandments because He loves us. He will give us all that we need so lets give Him what He asks for.

Friday, February 11, 2011

I love the time that we, as missionaries, get to spend studding and pondering upon the scriptures. What I was thinking about today was the story of the Pearl of Great Price. The story is about a rich man that is searching for pearls of value. But as he is in the market place one day he finds a pearl of great price and sells all that he has. Here is the story.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

This is great for a few reasons; one of my favorites is because it’s short sweet and to the point. When you find yourself happy with your life style, like this man probably was with his way of life and then he saw something greater that what he had, and so he got rid of those things of less value so he could have what was truly great. The gospel of Jesus Christ is like this. We all have our things in the world that we like, that are "fun" and make us "happy" but we can sense there is something out there greater, something of more worth. What this parable is saying to me is, when we find that of great worth, something that will take us to a whole new level of happiness, we must leave or “sell”, what is slowing you down behind and move to the one of greater value. If we do, we can find an added measure of happiness. I know this to be true, and I wish to leave this in the name of Jesus Christ, who has that of most worth, Amen.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

I have had a couple of good ideas of things to blog about, and the one I wish to start on is the good Shepherd. I have been reading a lot of really good talks lately about rescuing the lost sheep, and if you think about it we are all lost in one way or another, and we know lots more that are lost as well. The talks that I have been reading were talking a lot about different ways that we can try to bring them back and I thought they were all great, but it changes a little with each person. But the most important thing we can do is to show someone that they belong and that someone cares for them. I love the scripture from John 10: 14 it says: "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." We are all His sheep and He knows us individually. It’s not like a big company where people fall through the cracks and are forgotten, He can call us all by name. We need to do our best to help bring those lost sheep back into the fold. We may not be able to know all of the sheep that belong to the good Shepherd, but we can help out those that we do know. I know each of us can reach out and help someone. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

I have been thinking of charity quite a bit lately. I have been reading through the LDS bible dictionary, where it gives definitions of different words, and one of the definitions that I really enjoyed was the one on charity. It goes as followed; " The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ." That to me is really cool, when we show charity towards others it is the strongest kind of love.

The scriptures tells us multiple times to have charity, to help our fellow man. A way I like to look at helping others is, we are all on the same team. We are all children of our Heavenly Father and He loves us all the same. There is a scripture that says, as ye have done it upon one of these the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me. It doesn't take a lot to brighten someones day. If you can think of it as when you are helping someone you are helping God, it can make it a little easier to do when you reflect on all of the times He has helped you. Or if you put yourself in their shoes and think of what you would like someone to do for me. I know that as we try to apply these principles, not only will me make others happier, but we will become happier ourselves.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Today, we were going around the raining icy city of Glendive making visits when we started to talk to an older gentleman with a heck of a life story. I have really learned to love talking with those with far more life experience than me, because there are so many lessons that we can learn from them. The lesson we were taught today was about things falling from the sky. The story started with him telling us a little about his early days of joining the army and some of the things he was able to do, which was quite a bit because he spent over 30 years in the service of this great country.

He was telling us about how one of his jobs was to train the newer members in his group to listen to what is going on around you, which in his case could be very difficult because there were lots of distractions all around. But he was saying at first you can hear bombs or whatever it may have been falling, but it took a little while to figure out which way it was coming from, and which way to go to get away. After talking with him we could tell he must have done a pretty good job at getting out of the way, because he is still here to tell the tell. As he was telling us about his experiences I was thinking, hm... I'm going to blog on that, a phrase that I never would have come to my head that now comes fairly often.

The reason I wanted to blog about this is because, though we may not be in the military service we still have things falling all around or popping up that are trying to knock us out, distract us, or even to harm us. Those come from the adversary, because he doesn't want us to succeed, he desperately wants us to fail so we cannot enter into the presence of the Father again, but lucky for us is we have signs or clues all around to help us to know when these bad things are coming and ways to keep us from falling into these storms, and the greatest way or thing that we have to protect us, is Jesus Christ.

I am often taken back when I pause to think about Christ and the perfect life He lived. He was faced with the same temptations that we all are but He came out spotless. I have wondered, well of course He did He is perfect so it was just easier for Him, but I have recently come to realize, that it was easier for Him, He was just able to truly live the way He asks us to live. Jesus followed what the scriptures teach and He must have prayed more than anyone can imagine. I have noticed in my own life, as I strive to keep a prayer in my heart those temptations because easier to withstand. I am not saying that I am no longer faced with them; it’s just far easier with the Lords help. It helps me to get a warning, a “hey heads ups there is going to be some land mines ahead or the hell fire is about to start falling some the sky,” and He light up a path for me to escape safely. Those safe paths are out there for all of us, we just have to listen to the Master teacher and learn how to get away safely. I know that The Lord will teach us how to get away if we are willing to listen. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Today I don't have a whole lot of time, but this scripture was brought to my attention recently and I wanted to share it with you all today. It is going to come from the Book of Mormon from Alma 38:2. It reads: "And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end."

The reason I like that one, is because the Lord does trust us. It makes me think once again of the story of the 10 talents, that if The Lord can trust us with a few things and we show to Him that we are faithful and work until the end, it will make Him so happy. Remember, we are the children of God and He loves us far mare than we can ever realize, so lets put some trust in Him and keep the commandments, because He will bless us.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The other day we were talking about the story of the ten talents and it really had an effect on me, so that is what I decided to blog about today is our talents. I have often wondered what my talents are... What it was that I am good at that sets me apart from other people, as far as what I am better at than most. During these pondering sessions, I haven't been able to think of very many things that I would refer to as a talents, but I think that is one of the things that we are here in mortality for is to find and to develop talents and gain more. The story for the scriptures that I have on my mind is rather long, so I will describe the story in my own words.

The story is from the Bible, in the Book of Matthew 25 verses 14- 30. It talks of man who is preparing to travel to a far away country and gives talents to his servants. To one he gives 5 to another 2 and to the last he gives one. The first who received these 5 talents he goes out and trades and finds ways to increase these talents so when his master comes back he has something to show for what he was in trusted with. The second servant did the same with what he was in trusted with, but the last servant took the talent and buried it in the earth. After a long time the master comes back to see what they have done with what they were give. The master goes to the first and asks, so what have you done? The servant gladly tells his master I have doubled what you gave me, and the master rejoices and calls him a good and faithful servant because, he was given and little and was faithful to it, so he is told that he will be in trusted with many more things. The master tells the same to the second servant, because he doubled what he was given. Then for not so lucky number three... The master returns looking for what was done with what he was given as to his disappointment he finds that the servant buried what he was in trusted with and the master is really upset. So upset that he calls him a " Thou wicked and slothfulservant" for not doing as the others, for fearing failure more than attempting what was difficult.

What this has to do with me or what I have been wondering about is, I was wondering what my talents are and if I will be like the good servants or the wicked and unprofitable one. What I came to realize the other day was, even though I don't or may not realize what my talents are, as I have been reflecting on where I am in my life now, I realized that I have become so much better at so many of the things that I used to really struggle with. So, in a way I am doubling those talents, I am taking what was once a weakness and turning it into a strength, so I am trading what was of little value for something that is of great worth now. I know that many of of may wonder, well what am I good at? What are my talents? i am doing all that I can to improve them? If you are trying your best to do better and to get better, than I would say yes, you are doing what you are supposed to and if we keep that up then when the Lord returns to see what we have done with our own talents he will say this to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.